Medical Skilled Trades
Paramedic
Paramedics give more advanced emergency care than EMTs, such as giving medications, managing a patient's airway and reading heart rhythms (EKGs). You must be an EMT first.
1.Career snapshot
- Role
- Paramedic
- Pay (planning range)
- $45K–$75K+ Wealth Playbook guide, 2026
- Training time
- 1–2 years
- Pathway
- Emergency Medicine
- Demand
- Employment of EMTs and paramedics is projected to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations.
- Patient contact
- High
- Occupation code
- SOC 29-2043 · O*NET 29-2043.00
- Emergency / high-action
- Overtime potential
- Career advancement potential
2.What you'll do
Everyday work and where it happens
You give more advanced care than EMTs can. You assess what is wrong, give medications, manage the airway, interpret EKGs and perform emergency cardiac care such as defibrillation, all while keeping the patient calm. You coordinate with police, fire and hospital staff and hand over a full report at the emergency department.
Typical duties
- Assess the nature and extent of illness or injury and set treatment priorities
- Give a wide range of medications and intravenous fluids
- Perform advanced airway management
- Interpret electrocardiograms (EKGs) and perform emergency cardiac care such as defibrillation
- Coordinate with other emergency medical, police and fire personnel
- Document treatment and report to hospital staff
- Where you could work
- Local government, Ambulance services, Hospitals, Air ambulance crews (some paramedics)
- Schedule
- Most paramedics work full time and some work more than 40 hours a week. Schedules include nights, weekends and holidays, with shifts that can run 12, 18 or 24 hours.
- Physical demands
- Physically strenuous work with a lot of kneeling, bending and lifting, indoors and outdoors in all weather, often in stressful, life-or-death situations. EMTs and paramedics have one of the highest injury and illness rates of all occupations.
- Patient contact
- High
3.How to get there
Education, training, exams and licensing
- Typical training
- Certificate / associate pathway
- Training time
- 1–2 years
1.Become an EMT and gain experience
Paramedic programs require EMT certification or a state EMT license, and paramedics typically need EMT work experience before entering a program.
2.Complete a CAAHEP-accredited paramedic program
The National Registry only accepts candidates from CAAHEP-accredited programs (or programs with a CoAEMSP Letter of Review). Most community college programs lead to a nondegree award or an associate's degree.
3.Pass the National Registry Paramedic Certification Examination
Since July 1, 2024 this is a single exam; a separate psychomotor exam is no longer required.
4.Get your state license
All states require licensing. Most accept National Registry certification; others use an equivalent state exam. Keep your CPR/BLS current.
Exams and credentials
- Nationally Registered Paramedic (NRP), from the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians
Licensing
All states require paramedics to be licensed, and requirements vary. Most states require National Registry (NREMT) certification, and others require passing an equivalent state exam. Requirements vary by state; check your state EMS office.
Look up your state's license requirements (opens in a new tab)
4.What it costs
Tuition, fees, exams and financial aid
Costs vary by program.
NREMT Paramedic application fee: $175, charged for each examination attempt (nremt.org Paramedic Candidate Handbook, read October 2026). State licensing fees are separate.
Grants, loans and work-study can help pay for an eligible program. Start with the FAFSA at studentaid.gov (opens in a new tab), and ask each program what its total cost includes.
5.What you can earn
Starting, median and experienced pay, and where the figures come from
Planning range
$45K–$75K+
Planning range from the Wealth Playbook medical careers guide, 2026
Local wage data isn't loaded yet, so this is a broad planning range, not a wage figure.
A planning range is broad and has no median: it is for planning, not a promise of pay. Starting, median and experienced wages will show here when BLS wage data is loaded.
For reference only (not this page's pay figure): BLS median, May 2025, national: $60,600 a year (source, opens in a new tab).
6.Jobs near you
Coming soon
We plan to show local openings here once a job-data source is connected. Until then, you can search current listings yourself.
7.Career ladder
Next certifications and roles
- Paramedic(this career)
- Critical Care or Flight Paramedic(O*NET lists Critical Care Paramedic and Flight Paramedic among reported job titles for this occupation.)
- Firefighter / Fire Medic or other emergency-service role(A separate career with its own hiring process: firefighters must pass written and physical tests, complete interviews and train at a fire academy (BLS). Many departments want EMT or paramedic certification; requirements vary by state or locality.)
- Registered Nurse (RN)(Needs more education: an associate's degree, a diploma or a bachelor's degree in nursing (BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical). Paramedic-to-RN bridge programs exist (BLS).)
8.Your wealth path
From your first paycheck to owning and investing
Train
Certify
Get hired
Advance
Build wealth
Own / invest
Estimated take-home pay
Low end of the planning range: $45,000 a year
About $36,696 a year ($3,058 a month)
High end of the planning range: $75,000 a year
About $58,149 a year ($4,846 a month)
Estimate only. Assumptions: tax year 2026, single filer, the standard deduction, federal income tax, FICA at 7.65%, and a default state income tax rate of 5.00% (choose a state above to use its rate). No retirement contributions or other deductions. The Paycheck calculator uses the same engine.
9.Find training
Free U.S. Department of Labor resources. We don't list or rank schools.
Registered apprenticeships exist for some of these roles. For licensed careers, check that a program meets your state's licensing rules.
10.Compare careers
Save this career and put it beside others
Sources
- Pay: Planning range from the Wealth Playbook medical careers guide, 2026 (a planning range, not wage data).
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: EMTs and Paramedics (opens in a new tab)
- O*NET OnLine: 29-2043.00 Paramedics (opens in a new tab)
- NREMT: Paramedic Candidate Handbook - Overview (opens in a new tab)
- NREMT: Paramedic Candidate Handbook - Certification Process (opens in a new tab)
- NREMT: AEMT and Paramedic Certification Examinations (opens in a new tab)
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Firefighters (opens in a new tab)